PHILADELPHIA — Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor, suggested in 2019 that women who violate an abortion ban he proposed should be charged with murder, a position considered far outside the political mainstream.
In a radio interview with WITF, Mastriano — then a state senator — was asked about legislation he introduced that would ban abortion after ultrasound screening picks up an embryo’s cardiac activity, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, and before many are aware they’re pregnant. The bill did not include any exceptions for rape, incest or health.
The interviewer, Scott LaMar, asked Mastriano whether a woman who obtained an abortion at 10 weeks’ gestation should “be charged with murder.” Mastriano responded: “Is that a human being? Is that a little boy or girl? If it is, it deserves equal protection in the law.”
